Hello classmates and professors alike, this is my review of FUN HOME (it’s supposed to be capitalized, right? Everyone’s capitalizing it…)

Everyone seems to have enjoyed the performance as if it were the greatest thing they’d ever come across, but as we know, nothing is perfect, so I’ll be “that guy” who points out the elephant in the room.

1. First of all, the book was much more intense. I understand it’s difficult to make a musical into something that’s intense without adding a bit of humor or amusement, but then what’s the point of making the musical in the first place? Alison Bechdel’s message is not that her life was about breaking into song whenever things got tense; in fact, it’s probably quite the opposite. Perhaps the point of the performance was to emphasize that throughout all the confusion in her life, Bechdel managed to find happiness and beauty in “negative spaces”, but at times there was simply too much “happiness” which seemed a bit unneeded.

2. I was really perplexed as to why the youngest actress who played Alison (the one who sings “I want to play airplane”) seemed like both the childhood version and the preteen version.  Allow me to explain: the youngest version of Alison seems way too childish, even though her persona is a perfect balance between awkwardness and innocence. In the beginning of the performance, it’s obvious that she’s a total kid; however, as the plot develops, she quite clearly molds into a 13 year old who notices the oddities that surround her. I wish they had either included a fourth character or focused less on Alison’s childhood personality.

3. Also, I wish they’d given the college version of Alison more stage time. This is the critical character in the entire performance – while she’s in college, Alison discovers more about herself than ever before, and I felt like they breezed through her lines, ultimately hampering the significance that she is supposed to exemplify.

Don’t get me wrong, overall the musical was very entertaining, especially the trio of kids performing the “Bechdel Funeral Home” song (honestly my favorite part). But I chose to talk about the weaknesses and not go with the class drift.